Package forming machine

ABSTRACT

Pockets are formed in cards with plastic windows by feeding the cards from a magazine to a conveyor, heating the plastic window while the card is conveyed, transferring the cards to forming dies on a rotatable drum and vacuum forming the pocket. The cards are fed to the conveyor by vacuum cups oscillated toward and away from the card magazine and rotated toward the conveyor. Cards are then supported by rails and moved in timed relationship with the rotatable drum and are transferred to the forming dies. Rotation of the drum sequentially controls vacuum forming of the pockets and ejection of the finished cards.

United States Patent [72] inventors Ridley Watts, Jr.

Cleveland; John F. Berry, Bedford, both of, Ohio [21] Appl. No. 520,485[22] Filed Jan. 13, 1966 [45] Patented July 6, 1971 [73] Assignee TheAmerican Packaging Corporation [54] PACKAGE FORMING MACHINE 24 Claims,29 Drawing Figs,

[52] U.S.Cl ..18/19,18/2, 18/4, 53/ 1 84 [51] Int. Cl 1329c 17/00 [50]Field ofSearch 18/19 F, 19,

19D,19P,4C,2R;53/184 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2,935,828 5/1960 Mahafiy et 53/112 3,044,117 7/1962 Alspach et a1. 18/19X 3,091,808 6/1963 Dakin 18/19 3,126,583 3/1964 Haberle 18/19 3,277,22410/1966 Whiteford 18/19 3,348,265 10/1967 King et al 18/19 3,350,74411/1967 Sederlund. 18/19 3,357,055 12/1967 Swezoy 18/19 3,113,262 1/1964Messickmut 53/184 3,195,284 7/1965 Crane 53/184 X 3,232,024 2/1966 Brownt 53/184 1,965,732 7/1934 Bisterfeld 18/2 2,790,206 4/1957 Cojek 18/4 XPrimary Examiner-J. Howard Flint, Jr. Attorney-Watts, l-loffmann, Fisher& l-ieinke ABSTRACT: Pockets are formed in cards with plastic windows byfeeding the cards from a magazine to a conveyor, heating the plasticwindow while the card is conveyed, transferring the cards to formingdies on a rotatable drum and vacuum forming the pocket. The cards arefed to the conveyor by vacuum cups oscillated toward and away from thecard magazine and rotated toward the conveyor. Cards are then supportedby rails and moved in timed relationship with the rotatable drum and aretransferred to the forming dies. Rotation of the drum sequentiallycontrols vacuum forming of the pockets and ejection of the finishedcards.

PATENTED JUL 6 IQYI SHEEI l 0F 8 3/7 50a i 520a :-35/

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INVENTORS 550 550 3 RidLe Wan .l,-.

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lNVENTORS Ridley Watts .J'm

John F. Berry 57 E7 BY flw ATTORNEYS ATENTEU JUL 6 Ian SHEET 8 [IF 8lNVENTORS RLdley Watts J'a. JO/Ln F. Berry BY WM 4W,

ATTORNEYS PACKAGE FORMING MACHINE This invention relates to packagingmachinery and more particularly to a machine for forming a plasticportion of a package to a predetermined contour.

In present-day merchandizing, many retail products are often packaged inseparate units in order to show the products attractively against adisplay background which can contain artwork, illustrations of use,trademark, and price. These in dividual packages facilitate self-servicesales, serve as protection in shipment, and deter pilferage.

One type of package which is ideally suited for retail display and otherpurposes, and methods of making packages of this type are described ingreater detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,053,023 and 3,217,465 issuedrespectively Sept. 11, 1962, and Nov. 16, 1965 to Ridley Watts, Jr. Oneof the problems met and solved by the disclosures in those patents isthat of providing a technique for making an attractive and inexpensivecontainer which can be manufactured by a packaging company and theneconomically shipped to a product manufacturer. The product manufacturercan economically load and seal these containers.

Both the packages described in these patents and other known packagesfall into the general class in which the product is encased within theclear plastic enclosure and the plastic and enclosed products aresecured to a support card.

With the package described in the Watts patents, a plastic film issecured to a card to cover and close one or more apertures in the card.The film is preformed to provide flexible, shape-retaining pocketscontoured to a predetermined shape. The pockets are projectable throughselected apertures and are collapsible. Once the pockets have beenformed containers can be stacked tightly together for shipping and/orstorage until they are subsequently loaded. On loading each product isinserted into a flexible pocket, and the container is then closed sothat each product redistends its flexible pockets. Thereafter the cardis sealed in a closed condition as by heat-sealing two halves of thecard together.

One of the principal advantages of these containers is that a containermanufacturer can economically form a wide variety of containers for avariety of different customers and products. The product manufacturerrequires no equipment other than a mechanism for closing the packagesand that mechanism can be a hand-stapling machine, a flat iron, orDemiautomatic or automatic sealing machinery, according to the volumeneeds of the customer.

In order to economically supply such containers to a variety of productmanufacturers, it is important that the container manufacturer haveequipment which is flexible, fast, efficient in its operation, andinexpensive to operate. The presentinvention is directed to a machinewhich meets these criteria and which is ideally suited for the formationof the containers described in the referenced patents and othercontainers as well.

The machine of this invention is readily adjustable to accept packagesof a wide variety of both longitudinal and transverse dimensions. It isadapted to handle containers with a single pocket or any number of pairsof pockets adapted to be oriented together to encase a plurality ofproducts in a single package. The machine is also quickly converted fromone set of molds to another for quick conversion from one container toanother. The machine is capable of accepting pockets of a wide varietyof depths, films of a wide variety of thicknesses and consistencies, andeven rigid plastic material for the formation of so-called blisterpackages. The machine is also readily adapted to the formation of otherprior known packages.

With this machine, a feed magazine is provided in which a large numberof unformed containers can be stacked. The containers are automaticallyfed to a feed station from which they are sequentially fed, one at atime, onto a horizontal conveyor.

As the containers are fed along the horizontal conveyor, they are heatedto an appropriate temperature. The heated containers are then fed onto aforming drum by a novel feed system. crosspieces The pockets of thecontainers are preformed to the desired contour on the forming drum,cooled sufficiently to set the pockets in their formed dimension, andthen dropped from the drum onto a conveyor which feeds them away fromthe forming machine for storage, shipment, or loading.

Accordingly, the objects of this invention are to provide a novel andimproved container forming machine.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the forming machine of thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the frame and drive mechanismas seen from the plane indicated by the line 2-2 of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged end elevational view of the feed magazine as seenfrom the planes indicated by the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a foreshortened top plan view of the feed mechanism on thescale of FIG. 3 and as seen from the plane indicated by the line 4-4;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the feed magazine as seen from the planeindicated by the lines 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevational view of a portion ofthe feed magazine as seen from the plane indicated by the line 6-6 ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of thefeed magazine as seen from the plane indicated by the line 7-7 of FIG.3;

FIG. 8 is a further enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the feedmechanism shown in FIG. 6 on substantially the same plane of FIG. 6 andwith parts broken away and removed for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the container magazine feedmechanism as seen from the plane indicated by the line 9-9 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view on the scale of FIG. 9 and as seen from theplane indicated by the line 10-10 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary, side elevational view enlarged with respecttoFIG. 1, of the card feed mechanism;

FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the card feed mechanism on the scale ofFIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary end elevational view of a portion of the cardfeed mechanism as seen from the plane indicated by the line 13-13 ofFIG.12;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the portion of the mechanism shown inFIG. 13 as seen from the plane indicated by the line 14-14 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary view of one of the suction cups usedin the container feed mechanism and as seen from the plane indicated bythe line 15-15 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged sectional view showing one end of the feedconveyor in plan and as seen from the plane indicated by the line 16-16ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a shortened plan view of the conveyor feed mechanism on ascale enlarged with respect to FIG. 1;

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of a portion of the conveyor feed mechanismas seen from the plane indicated by the line 18-18 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of a portion of thelinkage which operates the card feed bars of the conveyor mechanism;

FIG. 20 is a side elevational view of the structure of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the left-hand portion of FIG.18 on the plane of FIG. 18; 4

FIG. 22 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the mechanism asseen from the plane indicated by the line 22-22 of FIG. 18;

FIG. 23 is an enlarged sectional view of the forming drum and associatedmechanism as seen from the plane indicated by the line 23-23 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 24 is a top plan view of a forming die associated with the formingdrum;

FIG. 25 is a fragmentary showing of an inlet and outlet pipe connectionfor providing a circulating flow of water to the forming drum;

FIG. 26 is a sectional view of the forming drum taken along the line26-26 in FIG. 23;

FIG. 27 is a side elevation view as seen from the plane indicated by theline 27-27 of FIG. 23;

FIG. 28 is a sectional view taken along the line 28-28 of FIG. 27; and

FIG. 29 is an end elevation view with parts removed and with parts shownin section of an alternative arrangement of a heating mechanism for theheating section of the machine.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a frame is shown generally at 30. The frame 30supports a supply magazine and mechanism shown generally at 100 andvisible in the upper left-hand portion of FIG. 1. A feed mechanism isshown generally at 200 and is immediately to the right of the supplymagazine 100.

When the machine is in operation, the feed mechanism 200 removescontainer cards one at a time from the supply magazine 100. The feedmechanism 200 supplies cards, one at a time, to the conveying andheating section of the machine shown generally at 300. Containers beingformed are fed longitudinally from left to right by the conveyor andheating section 300 to a forming mechanism 400. Card pockets arepreformed and set to a predetermined contour by the forming mechanismand the container cards are then deposited on a discharge conveyor 40.

In the balance of this specification, the supply magazine and mechanism100, the feed mechanism 200, the conveying and heating section 300, andthe forming mechanism 400 will be described in separately identifiedsections, followed by a section describing the complete operation of themachine and method offorming packages.

SUPPLY MAGAZINE AND MECHANISM A supply magazine and mechanism 100v forholding and positioning cards to be fed by the feed mechanism 200 to theconveyor 300 are best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to 10. Two spaced verticalsupport plates 101, 102 are secured by foot portions 103, 104,respectively, to spaced upright members 32 of the frame 30, as shown atthe left hand side of FIG. 1 of the drawings. A round cross bar 106 anda square cross bar 107 parallel to the round cross bar 106 extendbetween the two vertical plates 101, 102. The square rod is located at alower level than the round rod and is spaced forward toward the feedmechanism so that the common plane of the two rods is tiltedapproximately from the horizontal. This orients a stack of cards held inthe magazine at a similar angle.

Two spaced vertical side plates 110, 112 form the sides of the supplymagazine. The plates each include a foot portion 111, l 13 to supportportions of the lower edges of cards in the magazine. The plates areeach carried by respective mounting plates 114, 115, which areadjustable to vary the distance between the plates 110, 112 toaccommodate cards of different width. The mounting plates 114, 115 arecarried by bushings 116, 117, which are freely rotatable and slidable onthe round cross bar 106. Portions of the mounting plates 114, 115 extendforward from the bushings 116, 117 and rest upon the square cross bar107. An adjustment rod 119 extends through the plates 114, 115 and alocking adjustment knob 120 carried by the vertical support plate 101 issecured to one end of the adjustment rod. Oppositely threaded portions121, 122 of the adjustment rod 119 cooperate with oppositely threadednuts 123, 124, respectively, on the mounting plates 114, 115 to providean adjustment in the spacing between the two side plates 110, 112relative to a center line of the supply magazine assembly when the rod119 is rotated.

A pusher plate assembly 125 is carried by the cross bars 106, I07centrally of the two spaced side plates 110, 112 to advance cards in themagazine toward the feed mechanism 200. The pusher plate assembly 125includes two spaced rails 127, 128, which support the cards in themagazine. a pusher plate 129 and two spaced sprockets 130, 131 adjacenteach end of the supply magazine. An endless chain 132 is carried by thetwo sprockets and the pusher plate 129 is secured to the upper reach ofthe chain 132 by a pin 134 in a mounting as sembly 135 at the base ofthe pusher plate. Movement of the chain 132 advances the pusher plate129 from the rear of the magazine assembly 100 to the front, adjacentthe feed mechanism 200. This in turn advances a stack of cards Coriented in the manner shown in dotted line in FIG. 7 to the front ofthe magazine. When the pusher plate 129 approaches the front sprocket131, the pin 134 can be removed, releasing the pusher plate and mountingassembly 135 from the chain 132. The pusher plate is then moved towardthe back sprocket 130, again secured to the chain, and additional cardsare loaded into the magazine in front of the pusher plate.

Movement of the chain 132 to provide a continuous supply of cards at thefront end of the supply magazine 100 is provided by a cam driven ratchetand gear arrangement that provides a positive card advance in themagazine as cards are removed from the front of the magazine by the feedmechanism 200. To accomplish this, a shaft 138 is supported in thevertical support plate 102. See FIG. 4. A spaced parallel shaft 139 isalso carried by the vertical support plate 102 and extends through therail members 127, 128. The sprocket 131 is mounted on the shaft 139.

A pawl carrier 140 is keyed to the outer end of the shaft 138. Adepending cam-operated arm 141 (FIGS. 5 and 10) is also keyed to theshaft 138 at the inside of support plate 102. A ratchet wheel 143 and aconnected pinion 144 are supported and are freely rotatable on the shaft138 between the pawl carrier 140 and the support plate 102. The pinion144 meshes with a gear 145 that is keyed to the shaft 139; Thus,rotation of the ratchet wheel 143 and pinion 144 will drive the chain132 via the sprocket 131, shaft 139 and gear 145.

The racket wheel 143 is rotated by oscillating movement of the dependingcam-actuated arm 141. As best shown in FIG. 5, the arm 141 has a camfollower 146 that rides on a singlelobed cam 147 driven at a constantspeed of rotation by a cam shaft 148. The cam shaft 148 is driven from adrive and transmission which will be described subsequently. Oscillationof the arm 141 causes oscillation of the pawl carrier 140 about thecommon shaft 138 to which both are keyed. Clockwise rotation of the pawlcarrier in the orientation of FIG. 6 causes a pawl 149 to engage theteeth of the ratchet wheel 143, causing the wheel to rotate. During thecounterclockwise rotational movement of the pawl carrier 140, the pawl149 slides over the teeth of the ratchet 143.

Although the cam 147 is continuously rotated and the arm 141 and pawlcarrier 140 continuously oscillated, the pawl 149 is selectively movedout of contact with the ratchet wheel 143 when cards C are adjacent thefront of the supply magazine 100. This eliminates the need for a complexsupply drive arrangement coordinated between the supply magazine and thefeed mechanism.

Control of the pawl 149 is accomplished with the following mechanism. Ashaft 152 (FIGS. 4, 6, 7 and 8) extends through the support plate 102and the rail 128, at the front of the supply magazine 100. At the outerend of the shaft 152, outside the support plate 102, an upstandingfinger 153 is connected to the shaft 152. This finger pivots with theshaft 152 through a small distance, as indicated by the phantom positionin FIG. 8 of the drawings. In the solid line position shown in FIG. 8,the finger element 153 engages a block 154 on the pawl 149, causing thepawl to pivot away from the ratchet wheel 143 on the downward orcounterclockwise movement of the pawl carrier 140. As a result, the pawl149 does not engage a lower tooth on the ratchet and does not cause theratchet to rotate on the upward movement of the pawl carrier.

Thus, whenever the finger element 153 is pivoted from the phantomposition in FIG. 8 to the solid line position, advancement of the pusherplate 120 and cards C in the magazine 100 stops.

As best shown in FIG. 7, the end of the shaft 152 associated with thepusher plate assembly 125 is pivoted in response to the presence orabsence of cards C at the front end of the supply magam'ne. Anupstanding stop member 158 engages the bottom edge of the leading card Cin the stack of cards to retain the cards in the magazine. The stopmember 158 is carried at one end of a bell crank lever 160. The lever160 is in turn pivotally supported by a stud 161 at the upper end of asupport plate 162. The plate 162 is supported by and keyed to therotatable shaft 152. Two spaced stop members 164, 165 limit the pivotalmovement of the support plate 162 and supporting shaft 152. A spring 166tensions the support plate 162 against the stop member 165. A spring 167is connected between a depending arm of the bell crank 160 and thesupport plate 162, biasing the stop member 158 into a position where itextends above the rails 127, 128. A stop 168 carried by the supportplate 162 limits the upward movement of the stop member 158 in responseto the tension of spring 167.

When an adequate supply of cards C are present at the front of thesupply magazine 100 they press against the upstanding stop member 158and pivot the support plate 162 against the stop member 164. This inturn pivots the shaft 152 in counterclockwise direction in theorientation of H68. 6, 7 and 8. As a result, the upstanding finger 153is pivoted into a position to contact the block 154 carried by the pawl149. The ratchet wheel 143 is therefore not driven by the pawl and nofurther advancement of the chain 132, pusher plate 129 or cards Coccurs. As cards are removed from the front of the supply magazine bythe feed mechanism 200, the stop member 158 and plate 162 are pivoted bythe spring 166 in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 7. This rotatesthe shaft 152. After several cards have been removed, the plate 162 andshaft 152 are pivoted a sufficient distance to rotate .the upstandingfinger 153 out of contact with the block 154 of the pawl 149. Theratched 143 is then rotated, causing the chain 132 and pusher plate 129to advance toward the front of the magazine. This moves the stack ofcards to the front of the magazine until the stop member 158 is movedsufficiently forward to pivot the support plate 162 and shaft 152 adistance sufficient to cause the finger 153 to again engage the block154 on the pawl 149. Adjustment of the relationship between theupstanding finger 153 and the pawl 149 is provided by an adjustmentscrew 169 carried by a plate 170 supported on the shaft 152. Acompression spring 171 biases the finger element 153 against theadjustment screw 169.

FEED MECHANISM The feed mechanism 200 takes cards one at a time from thesupply magazine 100, carries the card and deposits it on the conveyorassembly 300. The construction of the feed mechanism is best shown inFIGS. 1 and 11 to 15. Basically, the feed mechanism includes an uprightsupport 202 and a rotatable card carrier 204. The upright support 202 ispivotally mounted at its lower end about a shaft 205 carried by theframe 30. The rotatable card carrier is supported for rotation at theupper end of the upright support 202. The entire feed mechanism assemblyis mounted in front of the supply magazine 100 and above the conveyorassembly 300. Card engaging vacuum cups 206 are carried by the rotatablecard carrier and are moved through a desired path to engage a card fromthe supply magazine 100, remove the card from the magazine, carry thecard to a position above the conveyor assembly 300 and deposit the cardupon the conveyor.

The upright support 202 is comprised of two spaced, elongated, parallelarms 207, 208 pivotally supported at their lower ends about thehorizontal shaft 205, which extends transversely across the conveyor300. Each arm 207, 208 is on an opposite side of the conveyor. A doublepulley wheel 210 (FIG. 11) is rotatably carried by the shaft 205 and isdriven in rotation by a timing belt 211 from a drive mechanism yet to bedescribed. A transverse shaft 214 extends between the support arms 207,208 at the upper ends and supports the rotatable card carrier 204. Apulley wheel 215 is secured to an extending end of the shaft 214 and isdriven by a timing belt 216 which is connected with and driven by thedriven double pulley wheel 210.

The rotatable card carrier 204 includes two spaced plates 218, 219,which are constructed with three extending leglike portions equallyspaced from each other about a central point through which thetransverse shaft 214 passes. The plates are rotated by the shaft 214.

Three transverse supporting rods 220, 221, 222 extend between the twospaced plates 213, 219, one at the outer ends of each of the three legportions. Three spaced, outwardly-extending, vacuum tubes 224 arecarried by each of the supporting rods 220-222. The vacuum tubes aresecured by clamping blocks 228 so that the vacuum tubes can be adjustedboth about and along the supporting rods. As best shown in FIG. 12, thethree vacuum tubes supported by each transverse rod are equally spacedand the middle tube is centered between the plates 210, 219. The preciselocation may vary, depending upon the shape and size of the cards beingfed. Vacuum cups 206 are secured to the outer ends of the vacuum tubes224 and are adapted to engage a portion of the card being removed fromthe supply magazine. The inner ends of the vacuum tubes 224 areconnected by a flexible tube 227 to a vacuum supply tube 230, 231 or 232carried by the associated legs of the plates 218, 219. Rotation of thetransverse shaft 214 causes the plates 218, 219 and the associatedvacuum supply tubes and vacuum cups to rotate about the axis of theshaft 214.

The vacuum supply tubes 230-232 are connected to a source of vacuumthrough a stationary control plate 235. See FIGS. 12, 13 and 14. Theplate 235 is carried by the upright support arm 208 and is spring biasedby three spaced compression springs 237 into face-to-face abutment witha seal plate 240 and carrier plate 241 that are rotatable with the sideplate 218 of the rotatable card carrier 204. The ends of the tubes230232 open through the seal plate 240 adjacent the surface of thecontrol plate 235. An arcuate groove 243 is formed in the inside surfaceof the control plate 235 and is connected at one end with a vacuumsupply through a tube 244. The groove is located at a radial distancefrom the shaft 214 to coincide with the path of movement of the openends of the tubes 230-232. The length and position of groove 243 areselected to provide communication with one of the vacuum supply tubes230-232 during the time when one set of vacuum tubes and vacuum cupsmoves from a position adjacent the front of the supply magazine to aposition directly above the conveyor. As best shown in FIG. 13, thearcuate groove 243 extends along slightly more than 90 of rotation ofthe card carrier 204. Thus, the vacuum source is connected to the vacuumcups when each set of cups arrives at the card carrying supply magazineand is cut off when the vacuum cups reach a lower vertical positiondirectly above the conveyor.

The outer face of the control plate 235 has an extending stop member 245positioned between a compression spring 246 and an adjustment screw 247that are carried by the support arm 208. Adjustment of the screw 247rotates the control plate about the axis of the transverse shaft 214. Inthis way, the exact location of the arcuate groove 243 can be varied tochange the location at which the vacuum cups are connected anddisconnected with the vacuum source.

The upright position and pivotal reciprocating movement of the uprightsupport 202 and card carrier 204 is controlled by a rod 250 pivotallyconnected to the support arm 207 by a stud 251 intermediate the ends ofthe support arm. The opposite end of the rod 250 is connected to ashorter arm of a bell crank 252 pivotally connected to the frame by astud 253. The longer arm of the bell crank 252 is connected to avertical link 255, which is connected to one end of a horizontal lever256 (see FIG. I). The lever 256 is supported on a pivot shaft 257 andhas a cam follower 258 on its opposite end. A cam 259 is rotated by atransmission 260, causing the upright support 202 to oscillate in amanner determined by the contour of the cam 259.

Each revolution of the cam 259 rocks the upright support 202 and therotatable card carrier 204 back and forth about the horizontal supportshaft 205, toward and away from the supply magazine 100. At the sametime, the rotatable card carrier is rotated about the transverse shaft216 carried at the upper ends of the upright support.

The path in which the vacuum cups 206 move and the operation of the feedmechanism can best be understood from FIGS. 1 and 11. The rotatable cardcarrier i rotates through one third of a revolution in each cycle ofoperation, that is, during each oscillation of the support 202 and thefeeding of one card to the conveyor. The carrier 204 is rotated from adrive shaft 262 of the transmission 260. (See FIG. 1.) A timing belt263, double pulley 264, timing belt 211, double pulley 205 and timingbelt 216 transmit the rotation of shaft 262 to the rotatable cardcarrier 204. For each revolution of the shaft 262, the rotatable cardcarrier rotates through 120. Due to the construction of the transmission260, the rotation of shaft 262 is intermittent during each cycle.

Each cycle includes an acceleration, deceleration and dwell of the shaft262 and card carrier 204. The movement is timed so that one set ofvacuum cups of the rotatable card carrier is opposite the front end ofthe supply magazine 100 during the dwell period. As one set of vacuumcups rotates to a position opposite the front card in the supplymagazine 100, the cam 259 rocks the lever 256, pivoting the uprightsupport 202 toward the supply magazine 1100 and places the vacuum cupsdirectly in contact with the foremost card just as the rotatable cardcarrier dwells. The movement of the vacuum cups is shown by the dottedline in FIG. 11. The contour of the cam 259 then quickly reverses themovement of the lever 256 to rock the upright support 202 away from thesupply magazine 100 while the rotatable card carrier is still in thedwell period. This pulls the bottom edge of the foremost card in thesupply magazine 100 over the upstanding stop member 150. The stop membercan be cammed downward by the card against spring 167 to release thelower edge of the card. Rotation of the card carrier 204 then beginsagain, carrying the vacuum cups through c120 of rotation to a lowerposition.

' From the location at which the vacuum cups are positioned when thecard carrier dwells to the lower position just in advance of the nextdwell, the vacuum cups are communicated to the source of vacuum throughthe groove 243 in the control plate 235. Further rotation through a fewdegrees by the card carrier just as the card carrier begins to dwellcarries the vacuum supply tube of the vacuum cups holding the cardbeyond the groove 243. This disconnects the vacuum, causing the cardcarried by the vacuum cups to drop onto the conveyor 300 directlybeneath the feed mechanism 200. At the same time, the next row of vacuumcups has been placed in position at the supply magazine 100.

The gear box 260, as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is mounted on asupport plate 265 carried by the frame 30. An input shaft 266 is drivenby a pulley 267 and belt 268 from a pulley 269 attached to an electricmotor 270. A constant speed output shaft 272 (i.e., constant output fora constant input speed of input shaft 266) of the transmission isconnected to the cam 259 and to a sprocket 273. The sprocket 273 drivesa chain 274, in which in turn drives a sprocket 275, chain 276 andsprocket 277 fastened to the cam shaft 140. The intermediated sprocket275 is mounted on a horizontal shaft 279 and provides a drive for theconveyor assembly 300.

A second constant speed output shaft 280 extends from the transmissiongear box 260 and is connected by a universal 201 to a drive shaft 282.The drive shaft 282 is connected by a second universal 283 to a helicalgear drive 20 for a discharge conveyor 40.

The third output shaft 262 of the transmission 270 rotatesintermittently during each rotation of the constant speed output shaft.This shaft drives the card carrier 204 as already explained. Theconstruction of a transmission suitable for driving one or more shaftsat a constant output speed and an additional shaft in an intermittentmanner is shown and described in the copending application of John F.Berry entitled Packaging Machine and Method, Ser. No. 445,386, filedApr. 5, I965.

CONVEYOR AND HEATING SECTION Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 16 to 22, twolongitudinally extending spaced side rails 302, 303 and a central rail304 receive and support cards fed by the feeding mechanism 200 from thesupply magazine 100. Movable bars or flights 306, which extendtransversely across and above the rails, are moved along the rails topush cards from the feed mechanism over a heating unit and to theforming mechanism 400.

The three rails 302, 303, 304 are supported by transversely extendingadjustment rods 308, 309, which are in turn carried by side plates 310,311 secured to the frame 30. The adjustment rods 308, 309 are journaledfor rotation in the side plates and each rod includes two oppositelythreaded portions that cooperate with oppositely threaded nuts 312, 313and 314, 315 associated with each rail 302, 303. The nuts 312-315 aresecured to the lower sides of elongated supporting plates 316, 317 (seeFIG. 18) to which the side rails 302, 303 respective- 1y, are secured.

Each rail 302, 303 has an inwardly facing groove 319, 320, respectively,along the major portion of its length. The top portion of each trackthat forms the groove is removed along that portion of the trackdirectly beneath the feed mechanism 200. This is best shown in FIG. 17where an open portion of each groove is indicated at 3194 and 3204,respectively. The open portions of the grooves receive cards from abovefrom the feed mechanism 200. Each card is then moved forward by a cardfeed bar 306, positioning the longitudinally extending opposite edges ofeach card within the grooves 319, 320, as best shown in FIG. 18.

The spacing of the side rails 302, 303 is adjusted by a hand wheel 322connected to the adjustment rod 308. Adjustment rod 309 is rotated fromthe hand wheel 322 by a sprocket 323 driven by a chain 324 from asimilar sprocket 325 connected to the shaft of the hand wheel 322.Rotation of the adjustment rods moves the rails 302, 303 in a transversedirection to the conveyor, changing the spacing between the rails toaccommodate cards of different widths.

Two endless chains 330, 331 are arranged with upper reaches extendingparallel to, slightly above and to the outside of the tracks 302, 303.The chains are driven by respective sprockets 333, 334, which are keyedto the shaft 279 adjacent the front end of the machine, beneath thesupply magazine 100. At the opposite end of the machine, the chains 330,331 encircle large diameter sprockets 336, 337, which drive a rotatableforming die support of the forming mechanism, to be describedsubsequently. Two upper guide sprockets 338, one on each side of therails, and two lower guide sprockets 339 are located adjacent the largediameter sprockets to maintain the upper and lower reaches of theendless chains 330, 331 parallel and in proper alignment along theconveyor and heating section 300.

The card feed bars 306 are secured at each end to the chains 330, 331 bylink elements 340 (FIGS. 19 and 20), which permit the bars or flights topivot about their central longitudinal axis. A roller 342 is journaledfor rotation on an outwardly extending shaft 343 of each link element340 on both chains 330, 331. In addition, the link elements 340connected in chain 330 include an arm 344 secured to the end of theshaft 343. A second roller 345 is secured to the end of the arm 3%. Theinner end of the shaft 343 is fastened to the end of the feed bar 306by, a screw 346. Rotation of the arm 3M and shaft 343 extending throughthe link element 340 rotates the bar 306 about the central longitudinalaxis of the bar. The orientation of the bar is controlled duringmovement along the conveyor section 300 and forming mechanism 400 by achannel 348 in which rollers 342, 345 of chain 330 ride. A channel 349on the opposite side of the conveyor guides rollers 342 of chain 331.

Each card feed bar 306 is provided with a plurality of closely spacedvertical grooves 351 in the front or leading surface of the bar. Thesegrooves 351 serve to locate and position card engaging fingers 352 thatextend in a plane generally perpendicular to the back edge of a card andtransversely of the direction of chain movement. Portions of the fingersdepend from the card feed bars to engage the back edge of a cardsupported by rails 302, 303.

Each finger 352 is secured to the front of a yoke 354 (see FIG. 22) witharms that extend above and below the feed bars 306. A key 356 extendsfrom the back of each finger 352 within the arms of the yoke 354. Thekey 356 is receivable within the grooves 351 and serves to positivelylocate the card engaging fingers in one of the grooves. The yoke 354 hasenough depth to permit the fingers to be moved forward a sufficientdistance to remove the.key 356 from the slot 351. A set screw 357 at theback of the yoke 354 maintains the key 356 within a selected groove 351when the fingers are properly positioned on the bar for a given cardsize. Preferably, the fingers are located adjacent the rails 302, 303,where the greatest friction and resistance to sliding occurs.

With this arrangement, the cards deposited from the feed mechanism 200onto the portion 319a, 320a of the rails 302, 303 and onto the centralrail 304 are engaged along a trailing edge by fingers 352 of a card feedbar 306. The bar 306 is moved from behind the feed mechanism 200 by thechains 330, 331 to engage a card and move it along the conveyor 300,through a heating zone and then to the forming mechanism 400. Thelongitudinally extending side edges of the card extend into the grooves319, 320 as soon as the card is pushed forward from the rail portions319a, 32011.

A heating unit, indicated generally at 360, is located along the path ofthe conveyor, between the feed mechanism 200 and the forming mechanism400. In the embodiment shown, the heating unit includes fivetransversely extending burner tubes 362 located beneath the rails 302,303. An opening or openings 364 are provided along the upper surface ofeach burner tube 362 across a portion of the width of the conveying pathof the cards to apply heat to a plastic window portion of the card,which is to be formed. An air conduit 366 and a gas conduit 367supplying gas and air under pressure to a mixing chamber 368, from whichthe combustible mixture is supplied via a conduit 369 to a manifold 370to which the tubes 362 are connected.

The number and arrangement of the burner tubes depends to a great extentupon the size and construction of the cards to be formed into packagesand upon the speed at which the cards are conveyed. In addition, thethickness of the plastic material and the transparency of the plasticmaterial to radiant heat may require a greater or lesser number ofburners to supply sufficient heat to soften the plastic to the necessaryextent for forming.

An alternative embodiment of a heating unit 372 is shown in FIG. 29 ofthe drawings. In this embodiment, upper burner tubes 373 as well aslower burner tubes 374 are provided above and below the conveying path.Separate air and gas inlet assemblies 375 and 376 are provided for theupper and lower burner tubes so that the heat may be independentlyadjusted. This arrangement may be particularly desirable where thicksheets of plastic are used, which require more heat to soften. With heatapplied from both above and below, the time FORMING MECHANISM Theforming mechanism is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 23 to 28.

Cards heated by the heating unit 360 are conveyed to the fonningmechanism, where they are received upon forming dies 402 supported by arotating die support 404. While the cards are supported and moved on thedies the heated plastic window portions are vacuum formed to a desiredshape and cooled. I

The rotating die support 404 is a boxlike affair having four rectangularsides 406, 407, 408, 409, two end walls 410, 411 and is square intransverse cross section. The die support 404 is supported for rotationabout its longitudinal central axis on a transverse shaft 412 thatpasses through the end walls. The transverse shaft 412 is journaled ateach end for free rotation in bearings 413, 414 attached to side plates415, 416 supported by upright members of the frame 30.

A chamber 418 is provided within the die support member 404 byperipheral wall 419 and spaced end walls 420, 421. The end walls 420,421 encircle the transverse shaft 412 and the peripheral wall 419 isspaced from the sides 406-409 of the die support 404. The end wall 420of the chamber 418 has a plurality of openings 422 so that the chamber418 communicates with the inside of the die support 404.

One end of the transverse shaft 412 includes a large diameter bore 423and a smaller diameter bore 424 that extends from the inner end of thebore 423 farther along the axis of the shaft 412. The larger bore 423terminates within the die support 404 and outside of the end wall 421 ofthe chamber 413.

Ports 426 extend through the wall of the shaft 412 in commu-' nicationwith the large bore 423 to provide passageways between the larger boreand the inside of the die support 404. The small bore 424 terminateswithin the chamber 418 and has ports 420 that communicate between theinterior of the chamber 418 and the smaller bore 424. A tube 429, whichfits tightly within the smaller bore 424 extends from the smaller borethrough the larger bore 423 and out the end of the shaft 412. A coupling430 is attached'at the outer end of the shaft 412 and connects thelarger bore 423 with a water inlet pipe 431 and connects the tube 429with a water outlet tube 432. With this arrangement, cooling water isintroduced through the larger bore 423 and ports 426 and flows incontact with the inner walls of the die support 404. The water flowsinto the chamber 418 through the opening 422 in the end wall 420, intothe ports 428 to the tube 429 and thence out through the coupling 430and water outlet tube 432. The coupling 430 permits the transverse shaft412 and the die support 404 to rotate.

It will be apparent that the die support 404 is of considerable volume.Because of this volumethe die support can, in the absence of cooling,absorb and dissipate substantial quantities of heat. This heatdissipation is enhanced if the die box is made from a material which isa good heat conductor such as aluminum.

It has been discovered that in many pocket forming operations it isdesirable to warm rather than cool the die support. Accordingly thewater chamber 418 may properly be termed a temperature control chamberinto which fluid is introduced. The fluid controls the temperature ofthe dies so that the heated plastic remains plastic long enough to beproperly formed but is thereafter cooled sufficiently quickly to freezethe plastic in its newly molded shape before the container is droppedonto the discharge conveyor 40.

A conduit 435 extends longitudinally partway along the length of eachside 406-409 of the die support 404. Each conduit 435 communicatesthrough an opening 436 in the end wall 410 of the die support 404 andalso through two openings 437, 438 in the respective side wall 406-409,centrally of the wall. The openings 436 of the conduits 435 communicatethrough the sprocket 337 and a seal plate 440 to a nonrotary controldisc 442. The control disc 442 has an inner surface that abuts the sealplate 440 and slides with respect thereto. The control disc 442 isspring biased by compression springs 443 against the seal plate 440.

Two arcuate grooves 444 and 445 are formed on the inner face of thecontrol disc 442, and are positioned as shown in FIG. 27. The groove 444extends through approximately of rotation of the die support 404 andcommunicates via a flexible tube 446 to a vacuum source. The groove 445is positioned subsequent to the groove 444 in the direction of rotationof the die support and extends through approximately 70 of rotation ofthe die support. The groove 445 communicates to a source of air pressurethrough a flexible tube 447. Both grooves 444 and 445 are locatedradially from the central axis of the transverse shaft 412 a distanceequal to the radial distance of the openings 436 of the conduits 435. Inthis way, the openings 436 communicate with the grooves 444 and 445during rotation of the die support 404.

A die support plate 450 (FIG. 23) is fastened to each side 406-409 ofthe die support. The support plates 450 each have conduits 451, 452 thatcommunicate with the openings 437, 438 of the conduits 435 in thesidewalls of the die support. A forming die 402 is fastened to eachsupport platen 450. The precise design of the forming die depends uponthe package to be formed. In the embodiment shown, a package is beingformed to hold four objects that will extend beyond the plane of thefolded card on each side of the card after the card is folded in halfabout a center line. See FIG. 24.

Eight spaced cavities 453 are provided in the upper surface of theforming die 402. Four openings 454 are provided in the bottom of thecavities 453. These openings communicate through small bores 455 to alarger U-shaped manifold bore 456. A manifold bore 456 is provided foreach four of the cavities and communicates directly with one of theconduits 451, 452 through the support platens 450. With thisarrangement, each cavity 453 communicates with an associated conduit 435in the die support and is connected through an opening 436 with each ofthe arcuate grooves 444, 445 during rotation of the die support 404.From FIGS. 26 and 27 it can be seen that during rotation of the diesupport 404 in a counterclockwise direction starting at the top, thecavities 453 will first be subjected to a vacuum and then to a positivegas pressure. The vacuum draws the heated plastic window into contactwith the cavities to form pockets. The positive gas pressure then ejectsthe formed card from the die.

As best shown in FIG. 26, the endless chains 330, 331i encircle thelarge sprockets 336, 337 on opposite sides of the conveyor. The chainsare held in close proximity to the rails 302, 303 by the pairs of guidesprockets 338, 339. The coordinated relationship of the rotating diesupport 404 with the movement of thecard feed bars 306 is shown in FIG.26. As the card, shown in phantom and indicated at C, is pushed from thegrooves in the tracks 302, 303 the front edge is received on a formingdie 402, which rotates into a generally horizontal position as itreceives the card. The card engaging fingers 352 position the back edgeof the card into alignment with the back edge of the die. At this point,the forming die is connected with the vacuum source through the arcuategroove 444, holding the card firmly in place and forming the heatedplastic portion of the card into pockets.

Endless belts 458 are positioned above and spaced across the width ofthe die support member 404. Each of the belts are trained around threesupporting rollers 460, 461, 462 to form the belts 458 into generallytriangular-shaped contours, as shown in FlG. 26. The length of belt 453passing between roilers 460 and 462 intersects the path of rotation ofthe forming dies 402 on the die support 404. The wheels 460 for eachbelt 458 are pivotally mounted and resiliently biased to tension thebelts. With this arrangement, the belts press down upon the cards Cafter the cards have been properly located upon the forming dies 402 andas the cards are rotated by the support 404. This assures that the cardsremain properly seated during the forming operation. The lowermostpulleys 460 are positioned at approximately the horizontal midplane ofthe die support 404. Contact between the belts 458 and the cards on theforming dies ends before the dies reach an upside down position as shownin FIG. 26, at which time the positive air pressure is applied to thedie cavities to remove the formed and cooled card from the forming die.

As shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, the card engaging fingers 352 aremaintained substantially perpendicular to the plane of the card C and incontact with the trailing edge of the card and forming die 402 as thecard is positioned on the forming die and rotated about a circular pathwith the rotating die support. This is accomplished by the shape of thegroove 348, which receives the two rollers 342 and 345 carried by chain330. As shown in FIG. 27, the channel 348 divides into two channels 348aand 34811 of different radius and depth. Roller 345 attached to the endof arm 344 follows channel 348b while roller 342, which is axiallyaligned with the card feed bars 306 follows shallower groove 3480. Thearrangement of the grooves pivots the arm 344 and also the card feedbars 306 relative to the link elements 340 so that the orientation ofthe fingers 352 is changed relative to the chain but maintainedessentially fixed relative to the plane of the card being pushed. inthis way, the card is moved by the chain and the card engaging fingers352 in a fixed relationship with the moving forming dies 402. Thefingers 352 guide the card C to proper position on the forming die 402and thereafter provide a rear abutment in contact with the trailing edgeof the forming die during the rotation of the die support 404. The belts458 in no way interfere with the upper extending portions of the fingers352, because the fingers are positioned between or to the sides of thespaced belts.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 23,, a discharge conveyor 40 is locatedbeneath the forming mechanism 400. Spaced, longitudinally extendingfixed support strips 470 provide a surface to receive cards from theforming mechanism. The strips 470 are supported at each end bycrosspieces 472, 473, which are secured to the frame 30. As shown inFIG. 1, the strips 470 are essentially horizontal through the majorportion of the their length beneath the forming mechanism 400, and curvedownward at the far end of the apparatus.

An endless chain conveyor 4'75 is formed by two spaced endless chains476, 477 supported at one end by two drive sprockets 478, 479 and at theother end by idler sprockets, one of which is shown at 480 in FIG. 1.Four conveyor bars 482 extend between the two chains 476, 477 and areequally spaced along the length of the chains. Fingers 484 extend fromthe conveyor bars 482 outwardly, away from the chain, soas to projectupwardly between the support strips 470 as the bars pass beneath thesupports strips. As previously explained, the sprockets 478, 479 aredriven from the transmission 260 by the drive shaft 282 and suitablegearing 284. The gearing 284 drives a shaft 485 to which the drivesprockets 478, 479 are fastened.

Cards deposited on the longitudinally extending support strips 470 fromthe forming mechanism 400 are engaged by the upstanding fingers 484 ofthe bars 482 and moved along the support strips 470 to the right handend of the apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, where they are received by ahopper or other handling mechanism (not shown).

SUMMARY OF OPERATION An incline stack of cards is provided in the supplymagazine 100. The electric motor 270 is started, causing the pusherplate assembly to advance cards C to the forward end of the magazine, inabutment with the upstanding stop member 158. The chains 330, 331 of theconveyor are driven by the chain 274 and sprockets 333, 334. Thesechains 330, 331 move the card feed bars and rotate the die supportapparatus 404.

The rotatable card carrier 204 is rotated intermittently from the outputshaft 262 of the transmission 260 and is oscillated about the supportshaft 205 by the link 250 in response to rotation of the cam 259 of thetransmission 260. The rotatable card carrier 204 rotates one-third of arevolution for each oscillation of the support 202. During thisrotation, the card carrier dwells as one set of vacuum cups is directlyopposite the lower edge of cards held in magazine 100. At this time, theoscillation of the upright support 202 has brought the vacuum cups intocontact with a card. Suction is applied to the vacuum cups in contactwith the card when the card carrier has rotated to this position. Theupright support then oscillates the support away from the magazine 100to remove the card held by the vacuum cups. The rotatable card carrier204 then resumes rotation to swing an engaged card by the vacuum cups toa position directly over the tracks 302, 303, 304 of the conveyor. Thevacuum to the vacuum cups engaging the card is cut as the vacuum cupsreach a lower position of rotation. At the same time, another set ofvacuum cups carried by card carrier 204 has approached the next card inthe magazine 100 and the rotatable card carrier is slowing down todwell. The first engaged card is released and the card carrier isfurther rotated to a position where the next set of vacuum cups isconnected by the associated vacuum supply tube 230--232 to the vacuum.

The card that is released upon the tracks 302, 303, 304 rests on thelower portions 319a, 320a of the grooves 319, 320. Movement of thechains 330, 331 brings a card feed bar 306 into position behind the cardsupported on the tracks 302, 303. The card engaging fingers 352 on thefeed bar 306 engage the trailing transversely extending edge of the cardand advance it along the rails 302, 303, 304. The longitudinallyextending edges of the card are engaged in the slots 319, 320 of therails. As the card is advanced over the heating unit 360, which ispositioned just in advance of the fonning mechanism 400, the plasticwindow portions of the card are heated and softened. Continual feedingof cards by the feed mechanism 200 and continuous movement of the chains330, 331 causes successive, spaced feed bars to engage successive cardsdeposited on the conveyor and move them in spaced relationship to theforming mechanism.

The card is next moved by the card feed bars into position to bereceived by a rotating forming die 402 that is rotated in timedrelationship by the chains 330, 331 with the movement of the card feedbars 306. Thus, as the card feed bars continue to advance the cardbeyond the termination point of the rails 302, 303, as shown in FIG. 26,the card is picked up by the top surface of a moving forming die 402.The card engaging fingers 352 are maintained in proper relationship withrespect to the trailing edge of the card C by the roller 34S and arm 3following the track 348b. When the forming die 402 that has received thecard C reaches a horizontal position as shown in phantom in F 1G. 27,the vacuum source from tube 446 and arcuate groove 444 is connected withthe cavities 453 of the forming die. This creates a differentialpressure on opposite sides of the heated window and draws the hot,softened plastic of the window area of the card into the cavities 453 toform the windows in a desired predetermined shape. The dies are cooledto below the softening temperature of the plastic by the watercirculated within the die support 404. The cooler dies lower thetemperature of the formed pocket in the window area of the card so thatthe plastic retains its distended dimensions.

Further rotation of the die support brings the forming die around to anupside down position above the conveyor 40. At this time, the conduitsto the die cavities are connected to a source of air under pressurethrough the arcuate groove 445, assuring a positive ejectment of thefinished card from the forming die. The card is received on the supportstrips 470 of the conveyor 40 and the rear edge of the card is engagedby fingers 484 moving longitudinally between the support strips 470,moved to the end of the apparatus and collected by a suitable hopper orother mechanism.

With the present construction a nd arrangement cards can beautomatically fed from a magazine, deposited upon an endless conveyorand continuously moved through a heating zone in preparation forforming. The heated cards are received by a moving forming dies, formedand cooled while moving, and are thereafter automatically ejected. As aresult, it is not necessary to start and stop the conveyor while theplastic window is formed into a pocket or bubble and cooled. Nor arespecial adapters shaped to the particular package needed to permit thepocket to be formed while the card is supported on the conveyor. inaddition, the cycling time is not dependent upon the time needed to formthe pocket, as is the case with intermittent single station formingmachines. Rather, by the use of a plurality of continuously movingforming dies, adequate time is allowed for the forming and cooling cyclewhile yet rapidly and continuously moving successive cards along theconveying path.

While in the foregoing disclosure a preferred embodiment of thisinvention has been described in detail, it will be apparent thatnumerous modifications or alterations may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for forming pockets in plastic window portions of card-typepackages, comprising:

a. a magazine for holding a stack of cards having window portions to beformed to a predetermined contour,

b. means to move cards in the magazine toward one end of the magazine,

c. feed means adjacent said one end of the magazine to engage and removecards singly from the magazine and transport them to a conveyor,

d. conveying means adjacent the feed means for receiving cards removedfrom the magazine and for transporting cards along a processing path,

e. forming means movable in a path partially along said processing pathand in part coincident with the path along which the cards are moved bythe conveyor,

f. means to operate said conveyor means and to move said fonning meansin timed relationship to position a card moved by said conveyor on themoving forming means,

g. means to operate said forming means while said conveyor and formingmeans are moving to form the plastic window portion of a positioned cardto a predetermined shape, and

h. means to heat the plastic window portion along the processing path inadvance of a location at which the cards are positioned on the movingforming means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means to move cards in themagazine includes a pusher plate carried by an endless chain, a ratchetand pawl drive connected with the chain to advance the endless chain andpusher plate toward the said one end of the magazine, rotating cam andlever to actuate the pawl, and means to selectively disengage the pawlfrom the ratched to stop advancement of the endless chain while the camcontinues to rotate. Y

3. The apparatus of claim 2 including means to sense cards at the saidone end of the magazine and to cause the pawl to be disengaged inresponse to the presence of the cards at a predetermined location at thesaid one end of the magazine.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the feed means includes a vacuum cupadapted to engage a card in the magazine, said cup being supported forrotation about a first axis and for arcuate movement about a second axisparallel to the first axis, means to rotate the vacuum cup about thefirst axis and means to oscillate the vacuum cup and first axis aboutthe second axis.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the means to rotate the vacuum cupabout the first axis rotates the vacuum cup intermittently.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the means to oscillate the vacuumcup and first axis includes cam means for oscillating the vacuum cup andfirst axis while the vacuum cup is stationary relative to the firstaxis.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 including means to connect and disconnectthe vacuum cup to a vacuum source in response to rotation of the vacuumcup about the first axis.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the conveyor includes fixed supportand guide means for receiving, supporting and guiding a card depositedby the feed means, and driven movable means to engage and move a cardalong the support and guide means.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the support and guide means includestwo spaced rails having inwardly directed grooves extending in a commonplane along a predetermined path and adapted to receive opposite edgesof a card.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the driven movable means includesan endless loop having an upper reach adjacent the plane of the tracks,a card-engaging element moved by the upper reach of the endless loop andextending through the plane of the tracks adapted to engage a trailingedge of a card supported by the rails, and means to move the upper reachof the endless loop relative to the tracks.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 including means associated with the cardengaging element to maintain the element in a predetermined relationshipwith the plane of the card.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means to heat the plasticwindows includes a heating unit extending beneath the conveyor inadvance of the forming means relative to the movement of the cards.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the heating unit includes gasburner tubes.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the forming means includes aplurality of forming dies, a rotatable support for the forming dies, andmeans mounting the support for rotation.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the fonning means includes meansfor exhausting gas from a cavity in a forming die to vacuum form aplastic window to the shape of the cavity, means for cooling the formingdie and means for introducing gas under pressure to the cavity in theforming die.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 including means to connect the cavity to avacuum source and to a source of gas under pressure in response torotation of the rotatable support for the forming die.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the means for cooling the formingdie includes an enclosure formed by the rotatable support for theforming dies and means to circulate cooling water to and from theenclosure.

18. In apparatus for conveying, heating and forming cardtype packageshaving window areas of thermoplastic material: a conveyor, includinglongitudinally extending card support rails; an endless loop extendingalong the conveyor and drivingly connected with a rotatable formingmeans in line with the conveyor, said forming means having a pluralityof forming dies; card engaging means carried by the loop for engagingand moving cards along the conveyor; and means to drive the loop andthereby move a card and rotate the forming means in synchronismtherewith, said forming means being constructed and arranged tointersect the path of movement of cards moved by the endless loop as theforming means is rotated and to receive on a forming die a card movedfrom the rails by the card engaging means.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 including means along the conveyor to heatthe window areas of cards, means associated with the forming means andforming dies to vacuum form the heated window areas to a predeterminedshape, and means to cool the formed window areas.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 including a plurality of endless beltsmounted on a stationary support and constructed and arranged tocooperate with the rotating forming means to press a card being formedinto close contact with a forming die.

21. Apparatus for forming pockets in plastic window portions of cardtype packages, comprising:

a. conveying means to move individual, spaced, cards along apredetermined path,

b. means adjacent said conveying means for enlarging the plastic windowportions of moving cards to provide a pocket, said means includingpocket forming means movable along a path in part coincident with thepath of said conveying means to receive cards moved by said conveyingmeans and to carry said cards along a portion of said processing pathwhile enlarging said window portions, and c. means to move the formingmeans in timed relationship with cards moved by said conveying means sothat cards are received by said forming means where the paths of saidforming means and conveying means are coincident.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 including means adjacent the conveyingmeans to heat the plastic windows as the cards are moved to the formingmeans.

23. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said magazine for holding a stackof cards comprises spaced side guides and a bottom support adapted tohold a plurality of cards, means mounting the bottom support at an anglefrom the horizontal so that the cards form an inclined stack and thebottom sup port and the stack have alower end and an upper end, a stopadjacent the lower end of the bottom support positioned to engage alower portion of a card at the lower end of the stack to retain thecards in a magazine, and means to move cards on the bottom supporttoward the lower end of the bottom sup port; and wherein said feed meansincludes card engaging means adjacent said magazine, means supportingthe card engaging means for movement in an arcuate path about a firstaxis of rotation, means supporting the card engaging means for movementabout a second axis of rotation parallel to the said first axis ofrotation, means to intermittently rotate the card engaging means aboutthe first axis of rotation, and means to oscillate the card-engagingmeans about the second axis of rotation toward and away from saidmagazine.

24. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said forming means includes dies,a support for said dies rotatable about an axis transverse to thedirection in which said conveying means moves cards, said dies beingsecured to said support and spaced peripherally, with outer surfacesadapted to receive cards moved by said conveying means, meansinterconnecting said conveying means and said support for concurrentinterrelated movement, and means adjacent said support for retainingcards on the outer surface of each forming die during a part of therotation of said support.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 31590 IDated July 6, 1971 Inventor) Ridley Watts Jr. and John F. Berry It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 13, line 71, "dies' should be die Claim 2, line 7, "ratched"should be ratchet Signed and sealed this 8th day of February 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER ,JR. RT 3OTTS CHALK Attesting offi e Commlssloner ofPatents Column 1, line 47, "Demiautomatic" should be semiautomaticColumn 2, line 4, "crosspieces" should be omitted.

Column 4, line 41, "racket" should be ratchet Column 5, line 41,"ratched" should be ratchet Column 7, line 46, before "120" delete "c".

Column 7, line 67, after "274," delete "in".

FORM uscoMM-Dc scam-ps9 a U 5. GQVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 7969 0355"334

1. Apparatus for forming pockets in plastic window portions of card-typepackages, comprising: a. a magazine for holding a stack of cards havingwindow portions to be formed to a predetermined contour, b. means tomove cards in the magazine toward one end of the magazine, c. feed meansadjacent said one end of the magazine to engage and remove cards singlyfrom the magazine and transport them to a conveyor, d. conveying meansadjacent the feed means for receiving cards removed from the magazineand for transporting cards along a processing path, e. forming meansmovable in a path partially along said processing path and in partcoincident with the path along which the cards are moved by theconveyor, f. means to operate said conveyor means and to move saidforming means in timed relationship to position a card moved by saidconveyor on the moving forming means, g. means to operate said formingmeans while said conveyor and forming means are moving to form theplastic window portion of a positioned card to a predetermined shape,and h. means to heat the plastic window portion along the processingpath in advance of a location at which the cards are positioned on themoving forming means.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means tomove cards in the magazine includes a pusher plate carried by an endlesschain, a ratchet and pawl drive connected with the chain to advance theendless chain and pusher plate toward the said one end of the magazine,rotating cam and lever to actuate the pawl, and means to selectivelydisengage the pawl from the ratched to stop advancement of the endlesschain while the cam continues to rotate.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2including means to sense cards at the said one end of the magazine andto cause the pawl to be disengaged in response to the presence of thecards at a predetermined location at the said one end of the magazine.4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the feed means includes a vacuum cupadapted to engage a card in the magazine, said cup being supported forrotation about a first axis and for arcuate movement about a second axisparallel to the first axis, means to rotate the vacuum cup about thefirst axis and means to oscillate the vacuum cup and first axis aboutthe second axis.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the means to rotatethe vacuum cup about the first axis rotates the vacuum cupintermittently.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the means tooscillate the vacuum cup and first axis includes cam means foroscillating the vacuum cup and first axis while the vacuum cup isstationary relative to the first axis.
 7. The apparatus of claim 4including means to connect and disconnect the vacuum cup to a vacuumsource in response to rotation of the vacuum cup about the first axis.8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the conveyor includes fixed supportand guide means for receiving, supporting and guiding a card depositedby the feed means, and driven movable means to engage and move a cardalong the support and guide means.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 whereinthe support and guide means includes two spaced rails having inwardlydirected grooves extending in a common plane along a predetermined pathand adapted to receive opposite edges of a card.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 9 wherein the driven movable means includes an endless loop havingan upper reach adjacent the plane of the tracks, a card-engaging elementmoved by the upper reach of the endless loop and extending through theplane of the tracks adapted to engage a trailing edge of a cardsupported by the rails, and means to move the upper reach of the endlessloop relative to the tracks.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10 includingmeans associated with the card engaging eLement to maintain the elementin a predetermined relationship with the plane of the card.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the means to heat the plastic windowsincludes a heating unit extending beneath the conveyor in advance of theforming means relative to the movement of the cards.
 13. The apparatusof claim 12 wherein the heating unit includes gas burner tubes.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the forming means includes a plurality offorming dies, a rotatable support for the forming dies, and meansmounting the support for rotation.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 whereinthe forming means includes means for exhausting gas from a cavity in aforming die to vacuum form a plastic window to the shape of the cavity,means for cooling the forming die and means for introducing gas underpressure to the cavity in the forming die.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15including means to connect the cavity to a vacuum source and to a sourceof gas under pressure in response to rotation of the rotatable supportfor the forming die.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the means forcooling the forming die includes an enclosure formed by the rotatablesupport for the forming dies and means to circulate cooling water to andfrom the enclosure.
 18. In apparatus for conveying, heating and formingcard-type packages having window areas of thermoplastic material: aconveyor, including longitudinally extending card support rails; anendless loop extending along the conveyor and drivingly connected with arotatable forming means in line with the conveyor, said forming meanshaving a plurality of forming dies; card engaging means carried by theloop for engaging and moving cards along the conveyor; and means todrive the loop and thereby move a card and rotate the forming means insynchronism therewith, said forming means being constructed and arrangedto intersect the path of movement of cards moved by the endless loop asthe forming means is rotated and to receive on a forming die a cardmoved from the rails by the card engaging means.
 19. The apparatus ofclaim 18 including means along the conveyor to heat the window areas ofcards, means associated with the forming means and forming dies tovacuum form the heated window areas to a predetermined shape, and meansto cool the formed window areas.
 20. The apparatus of claim 18 includinga plurality of endless belts mounted on a stationary support andconstructed and arranged to cooperate with the rotating forming means topress a card being formed into close contact with a forming die. 21.Apparatus for forming pockets in plastic window portions of card typepackages, comprising: a. conveying means to move individual, spaced,cards along a predetermined path, b. means adjacent said conveying meansfor enlarging the plastic window portions of moving cards to provide apocket, said means including pocket forming means movable along a pathin part coincident with the path of said conveying means to receivecards moved by said conveying means and to carry said cards along aportion of said processing path while enlarging said window portions,and c. means to move the forming means in timed relationship with cardsmoved by said conveying means so that cards are received by said formingmeans where the paths of said forming means and conveying means arecoincident.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21 including means adjacent theconveying means to heat the plastic windows as the cards are moved tothe forming means.
 23. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said magazinefor holding a stack of cards comprises spaced side guides and a bottomsupport adapted to hold a plurality of cards, means mounting the bottomsupport at an angle from the horizontal so that the cards form aninclined stack and the bottom support and the stack have a lower end andan upper end, a stop adjacent the lower end of the bottom supportpositioned to engage a lower portion of a card at the lower end of thestack to retain the cards in a magazine, and means to move cards on thebottom support toward the lower end of the bottom support; and whereinsaid feed means includes card engaging means adjacent said magazine,means supporting the card engaging means for movement in an arcuate pathabout a first axis of rotation, means supporting the card engaging meansfor movement about a second axis of rotation parallel to the said firstaxis of rotation, means to intermittently rotate the card engaging meansabout the first axis of rotation, and means to oscillate thecard-engaging means about the second axis of rotation toward and awayfrom said magazine.
 24. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said formingmeans includes dies, a support for said dies rotatable about an axistransverse to the direction in which said conveying means moves cards,said dies being secured to said support and spaced peripherally, withouter surfaces adapted to receive cards moved by said conveying means,means interconnecting said conveying means and said support forconcurrent interrelated movement, and means adjacent said support forretaining cards on the outer surface of each forming die during a partof the rotation of said support.